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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Man tries to sell daughter for Rs 35k, held

DEHRADUN: Police rescued a 13-year-old minutes before her father could close a deal to sell her for Rs 35,000 at a village in Bageshwar district's Kapot area to six people hailing from different parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Nine persons, including the father, have been sent to judicial custody. The accused have been booked under Section 370 A of the IPC (human trafficking).

Station officer (Kapkot) Satya Prakash said, "The girl in her statement said she was interested in studying but her father was trying to force her to 'go with the people who came from UP'." The police could not rule out "the possibility of the UP men forcing the teen into prostitution after 'buying' her".

A resident of Jagthana village, Rajendra Singh Gadia, contacted two match-makers — Prakash Chandra Joshi and Ghanshyam Joshim — from adjoining Paething village to find a groom for his daughter. He "planned to get her married to a person who could pay for her".

Prakash and Ghanshyam contacted Badaun resident Gopal Singh and planned the purchase of the minor girl, who is a Class VIII student.

"On Monday, Prakash, Ghanshyam along with Gopal and five others, whom the Badaun resident described as his relatives from Bareilly and Moradabad, visited Rajendra's residence and both parties struck a deal for Rs 35,000," SP Bageshwar N S Napalchiyal said.

An amount of Rs 5,000 was handed over to Rajendra at his residence as advance and Gopal agreed to pay the remaining sum after withdrawing it from an ATM in Bageshwar, barely 18km away.

As per the plan, the girl was to be handed over to Gopal and others after the entire amount was paid.

"We got the information about the deal and a police team from Kapkot was rushed but it was found that the father, his daughter, Ghanshyam, Prakash Gopal and his five relatives had left for Bagehswar in a jeep," a senior police officer said. The team followed the vehicle and intercepted it near Harshil. "All nine people were arrested, the girl was rescued and handed over to her mother," added Napalchiyal.